Research Staff Forum: Meeting Minutes
8th October 2014
1. Welcome and Introduction.
Present:
Melina Dritsaki (WMS, Chair), Tim Jones (PVC), Liz Harrison (HR), Lisa Lavender (Vitae), Sandy Sparks (LDC).
Nicole Baumann (Psychology), Rachel Corke (IAS), Mistianne Feeney (Life Sciences), Maja Firczuk (Life
Sciences), Ana Girao Coelho (Engineering), Sumit Hazra (WMG), Siew Wan Hee (WMS), Helen Willcock
(Chemistry), Ania Zbyszewska (Law).
Apologies:
Mairi Ann Cullen(CEDAR), Thomas Hamborg (WMS), Rebecca Johnson (WMS), Charlotte Mathieson (IAS Early
Careers), Ed Smith (Life Sciences), Karoline Strauss (WBS), Peter Walley (Life Sciences).
2. Minutes from last meeting and matters arising.
Minutes accepted with an update on action points as follows:
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The request that unsuccessful applicants for promotion should also receive a copy of the feedback
(along with the HoD) has now been put into practice.
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Following a query about travelling to conduct research whilst on maternity leave, it was confirmed
that females on maternity leave are covered to travel unless they had been advised by their medical
practitioner not to travel. Insurance policy details can be found at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/finance/insurance/keypolicies/ .
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In response to discussions about requests for research staff to teach and different terms and
conditions of employment for externally funded project posts, it had been noted that the HR website
would include information to reflect that ‘contracts vary depending on funding requirements’. As a
point of clarification, the Academic, Research only and Teaching Only Terms & Conditions of
Employment (on the HR A-Z under Terms & Conditions) states that ‘if your employment is dependent
on funding from an external body or organisation, details will be set out in your Letter of
Appointment’. Offer letters differ as they are individual to your employment.
In relation to contracts, research staff should raise any concerns about requests to work outside their
funding body contract with their Head of Department initially.
3. Update from the PVC Tim Jones
Reported on some recent significant and positive activities at Warwick.
Professor Martin Hairer, Regius Professor of Mathematics, has been awarded the Fields Medal, the
world’s most prestigious mathematics award.
Warwick has performed well in the recent league table announcements, in particular being voted
University of the Year by the Sunday Times and moving up to 103 in THE’s world rankings, with
significant recognition of research improvements.
The university secured £120 million in research awards last year, with a good trajectory going
forward.
With the REF results due on 18 December 2014, planning will start for REF 2020 from January 2015.
With an increase in open access publications expected in the next REF, this area will be built into
departmental REF strategies.
Upcoming news will soon be announced on the university’s work to support women in their roles at
Warwick.
On a more cautionary note, student fees and funding streams will come under increasing scrutiny in
the 2015 General election. It is likely that research funding will increasingly be focused on the best
research institutions, linking in with the active stance that Warwick is taking on REF preparation.
Q: University of Leeds is investing in 250 research fellow posts with a view to increasing associate
professor staff for REF 2020, what are Warwick’s plans?
A: Warwick has no single initiative investment of this kind, but is continuing its ongoing programme
of researcher recruitment to meet specific needs.
Q: Does Warwick lobby and engage in work in Brussels to progress Horizon 2020 funding?
A: Yes, Warwick works in Brussels to ensure the university is fully engaged and informed on Horizon
2020 opportunities, noting the differences in funding and projects from research councils. The
Brussels office is also available for setting up meetings, with a focus on European funding.
In a similar vein, other facilities used by the university outside Warwick available for events were
noted:
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The WBS base in The Shard in London:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/insite/news/intnews2/using_shard
Warwick in Venice: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/international/world/venice/contact/
4. Update from Research Representatives
Siew Wan Hee (WMS)
Events in the department have gone well and the mentoring scheme is progressing. Kate Seers has
instigated a mentoring system, involving mentors from outside WMS. Mentor and mentee training
sessions will be run by LDC, with a possible additional session at the University Hospital Coventry
for staff who generally do not work on campus.
Sandy is also planning a Windows on Warwick (WOW) session to highlight how departments can
develop mentoring schemes and examples of different schemes.
Ana Girao Coelho (Engineering)
The Engineering Research Staff website has proved useful for new and existing staff. It will
hopefully continue to be maintained during Sarah Lewis (nee. Pain) maternity leave.
Nicole Baumann (Psychology)
Researchers in the department tend to feel tied to a project rather that their department in the
university, so it can be difficult to engage in the idea of a research community.
Rachel Corke (IAS)
IAS supports inter-disciplinary research, largely through fellowships. Some of their sessions are
open to the wider research community, but would like thoughts on how best to advertise these.
(NB. Sandy is happy to include details in the LDC monthly e-newsletter to research active staff,
please send to Sandy/Lisa)
Q: What funding is available from IAS for projects?
The target market is academics on permanent contracts, with a limited budget IAS is unable to
offer funding to postdoctoral fellows. However, there is seed funding available to support events,
which can be valuable alongside other small-scale funds. Support for speculative lunches are also
available (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/funding_opportunities/speclunch/) and
IAS would also encourage researchers to submit to Exchanges: the Warwick Research Journal http://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges.
Sumit Hazra (WMG)
The research breakfasts and networking events are still going well and some of the space issues
WMG had been experiencing are being addressed for researchers.
Mistianne Feeney & Maja Firczuk (Life Sciences)
With the current redundancy and job uncertainties in Life Sciences, there is some unease amongst
post-doc’s about potentially losing PI’s and support staff for projects they are involved with.
Requests have been made to IT Services for training courses on Matlab and Python software, as the
courses on offer are only introductory.
NB. Others in the meeting suggested linking up with colleagues across the university using the same
packages to share knowledge and practice. In addition, Mathworks (the company that run Mathlab)
offer webinars, external courses or onsite training for groups.
Following the upgrade of pc’s in the department by ITS, admin rights have been removed for staff,
making it difficult to upload and maintain software.
It was suggested that this issue should be raised by those concerned to Simon Bailey in the first
instance, to see if the issue can be resolved.
Ania Zbyszewska (Law)
Sharifah Sekalala is on maternity leave, nothing to report on this occasion.
Helen Willcock (Chemistry)
Two post-doc’s have started a network with events planned on various topics to improve researcher
skill-sets. The Welfare and Communications Committee’s are also now more active.
It was noted that Chemistry are experiencing similar IT software issues to Life Sciences following
recent upgrade work.
Melina Dritsaki (Clinical Trials Unit – Health Sciences)
The journal club is active and also gaining interest from colleagues at Coventry University.
Currently working with an MSc placement student, which is an interesting development.
Liaising with Warwick Comms/Media office proved difficult during a recent period of media
interest. As a result, colleagues are setting up a procedure on how to respond to media requests.
Melina has been asked to act as a tutor, but with no direct involvement with students she is unsure
how to/if she should proceed?
Peter Wally (Life Sciences – Wellesbourne)
NB. Peter was unfortunately unable to attend the meeting at short notice but submitted the
following notes by email after the forum met.
For the Wellesbourne site, initially there was a great deal of uncertainty in light of the current staff assessment
exercise that is being carried out across the School of Life Sciences, but in light of this, the general feeling was
to carry on doing our jobs. We had a Crop Centre open afternoon, which pulled everyone together and
cemented working relationships. Staff in general are still feeling positive, but I think we are all looking forward
to the dust settling post review, so that we can see how the structure of the department looks.
5. Update from Service Representatives
Sandy Sparks (LDC)
Research Active Staff provision:
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The Legacy Report of last year’s activities has now been published on the website at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/ldc/researchers/opportunities/ld__ras_legacy_repor
t.pdf
Consider and feedback to Sandy your thoughts on provision for the coming year. An
increased emphasis on activities to support equality & diversity, leadership and skills
development are being planned.
Please make use of the events in the open programme and research active staff calendar as
it is difficult to resource/support extensive department specific requests.
15 applications to the Research Staff Network Fund were accepted last year, totalling
£13,000, of which £10,700 was spent. Network funding for 2014/15 is now open for
applications, with further details at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/ldc/researchers/funding/network_funding
Upcoming events: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/ldc/researchers/events_news/ras_events/
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WOW session on the Gender Equality Charter Mark (GEM) – 22 October 2014
Academic Writing – 5 workshops and 2 bootcamps are currently advertised for booking.
Research Data Management – an introductory workshop is being held on 13 November 2014,
with a practice sharing event planned (but not yet advertised) for 26 February 2015.
Dignity Contacts training (by invitation)
Additional Support:
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The Staff Development Fund is not currently open and is under review as a wider piece of
work in the university.
WIS – Women in Science event took place on 24 September 2014 – another successful career
development event for the organising group.
The HR Excellence in Research Action Plan is currently being completed. Please raise any
important activities that could be included with Sandra Beaufoy or Sandy Sparks.
Vitae has been a career development organisation for researchers funded through CRAC,
but is now moving to a fee-paying membership model. As part of the new model the 8
regional hubs will cease to exist after March 2015, with activities centralised from January
2015. We are pleased to report that Warwick is one of the 100+ institutions that has taken
out membership, but as the Midlands Hub is hosted at Warwick, in the short term we would
also urge you to look at the Vitae website (https://www.vitae.ac.uk/) and forward any
enquiries about resources and activities to Kate Mahoney, the Hub manager –
midlandshub@vitae.ac.uk
Lisa Lavender distributed Vitae materials on membership and activities for the coming
academic year, which can also be found at: https://www.vitae.ac.uk/membership
6. Feedback from Committee’s
Research Committee:
A summary of the main points that are relevant to the RSF from the Meeting of the Research
Committee held on 15 September 2014: Dr Peter Glen Walley on behalf of the Research Staff Forum
On the 5th June the committee discussed the role of the Research Committee, and the members
that should sit on the committee:
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The RSF will continue to have representation at all Research Committee meetings.
The current members may take part in an away-day type event to cement relationships
further
The Director of Research Support Services (Catherine Cochrane) presented a paper describing
proposed changes to the current RSS structures:
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RSS structures are to be updated to fit purpose.
Individual roles will be strengthened.
The team will work in a more collaborative way within departments.
Greater interaction, with impact officers capturing impact and providing guidance.
The University is updating its research section on the University’s website.
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The RSF should review these pages to ensure it reflects the best Warwick has to offer
across departments.
A paper was received from the Senior Liaison Officer (Sarah Patrick), International Office, on
current international funding opportunities.
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The current opportunities can be accessed via:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/international/staff/relations/resources/
The Research Committee is asked to note the above international funding opportunities, to
disseminate to research colleagues and make recommendations for additional methods for
communicating such opportunities.
Researchers, and colleagues working with research staff, are also requested to notify the
Partnerships Team (International Office) if they are planning to submit an application to
any of these funds so that Warwick bids can be tracked and supported.
The Committee received a proposal for the establishment of the Centre for Interdisciplinary
Methodologies (CIM).
The primary aim of the centre is to foster innovative and experimental forms of knowledge
production, through a focus on interdisciplinary methodology.
Equality & Diversity Committee:
The committee has not met since the last Research Staff Forum, an update will be available for the
next meeting.
7. Dates for Future Meetings
The next meeting will be held on 10th February 2015, from 12-2pm in the Wolfson Research
Exchange. Helen Willcock has agreed to chair the meeting.
The following meeting is scheduled for 20th May 2015.